


Goodbye

by BlueTeamSucks



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Epsilon going rampant, Epsilon tortures Wash, Locus dies, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 21:13:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1914063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueTeamSucks/pseuds/BlueTeamSucks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Washington stared at Carolina in disbelief. The room was completely silent, except for the faint sound of a Warthog in the distance. Even Donut, who never knew when to shut up, was quiet.</p>
<p>"What!?" Wash burst out, his voice squeaking slightly. "What do you mean Epsilon is going rampant?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbye

Washington stared at Carolina in disbelief. The room was completely silent, except for the faint sound of a Warthog in the distance. Even Donut, who never knew when to shut up, was quiet.

"What!?" Wash burst out, his voice squeaking slightly. "What do you mean Epsilon is going rampant?"

Carolina shook her head, looking pained. "He's breaking down, Wash. He won't talk to me about it, but I can feel it. It's like a slower version of Eta and Iota."

Tucker looked up from the floor, which he had been blankly staring at ever since Carolina had started talking. He was gripping Wash's hand tightly, as if he needed support. Wash didn't blame him. "Where is he now?" Tucker asked, looking sick to his stomach.

"I had him log off. Church is probably suspicious, to say the least," she said quietly.

Wash sighed, racking his brain for solutions. "Do you know of any way to stop it? Or at least a way to slow it down until we can find a way to fix him?"

"Taking him out of Miss Lina Bean's head." Caboose was the only one stupid enough to suggest what everyone was thinking. They all winced, waiting for Carolina's bad reaction that was sure to come.

To their surprise, Carolina just nodded, looking defeated. "That's probably our best bet."

Wash had to make an effort to keep his jaw from dropping in shock. He had expected Carolina to argue at the least. He hadn't realized just how much pain she was in if she was willing to give Church up so easily. Then again, if he had Epsilon breaking down inside his head again, he would want him out as soon as possible.

Apparently, the rest of the group had the same reaction, because nobody said anything until Carolina cleared her throat. "What?" She asked, almost indignantly.

"How would we..." Wash paused, not exactly sure how to word his question. "How would we get him out?"

Caboose brightened up. "I could do that! I know how, I fixed Church and I can fix him again if you need me too!"

Carolina gave Caboose a skeptical stare, then turned to Doc. "Could you help him?"

Doc shrugged. "I guess I could. I mean, I can't do anything about the AI thing, but I can help with the removal part."

Wash looked from Doc, to Caboose, to Carolina, feeling slightly overwhelmed. "When are we going to do this?"

"Right now," she said while rubbing at the back of her neck. Carolina nodded, as if reassuring herself that everything was alright.

With that, Caboose and Doc got working. Donut offered to help, which they gladly accepted. Everyone else was ushered out of Carolina's bunk, which the meeting had taken place in. Wash had no idea what to do with himself while his teammate was in surgery.

To be honest, this whole thing felt too much like Project Freelancer for Wash's taste. He half expected The Counselor to walk up to him with a clipboard, asking his opinion on Agent Carolina's implantation while scribbling down notes.

Wash shook his head to get rid of the mental image and decided that he needed to take a walk. Everyone always said that walk cleared your mind. He had even offered Caboose that advice once. Never mind that that walk had ended up with a giant killer robot threatening to kill them all.

As he wandered down the halls of the Federal Army base, he passed an ajar door, an uncommon sight for such a secretive place. Inside, someone was talking with a raised voice. Wash contemplated what to do.

Eventually, his curiosity got the best of him. He edged closer to the wall, hoping that he couldn't be seen from inside the room. When he peeked inside, he sighed in relief. It was just Locus yelling at a cowering soldier, not something that was really out of place here.

Wash would have turned to leave. No, he should have. He really, really should have. But Locus's words were what convinced Wash to stay. He could've sworn he had heard Locus say something about Freelancers. He instantly cupped a hand around his ear, hoping to be able to hear better.

"Listen, I don't give a shit about your safety. I need the unit, no matter what," Locus growled.   
The soldier muttered something that Wash wasn't able to hear. He could, however, hear Locus's menacing response.

"They're taking care of it right now."

Wash felt chills run down his spine. He jolted away from the door, as if he had been burned. Just in time too, Locus walked out of the room, followed by the soldier. Locus stared at Wash with narrowed eyes. Wash stared right back, feeling even more suspicious of the already untrustworthy mercenary.

"Agent Washington, is something wrong?" He asked, a creepy smile curling over his lips.

Wash shook his head. "No, everything's fine. Thank you."

Locus gave a curt nod, then walked off. Wash watched him leave, feeling nervous for some reason. It was probably nothing, but Wash's gut told him otherwise.

Just in case, Wash rushed back to Carolina's bunk. When he knocked on the door, Donut opened it a crack.

"Wash, we're not done yet," he chided with a soft smile.

"I know, just checking." Wash couldn't help feeling like something was wrong.

Donut shut the door in his face and Wash groaned in frustration. He had more time to kill, so he wandered to the mess hall, where the rest of the group was hanging out. There, they talked and fidgeted while waiting for Donut to come get them.

Hours passed and Wash got fed up with waiting. He stood up abruptly, halting the very interesting conversation about made-up animals.

"I'm going to make sure everything's okay. It really shouldn't take this long unless something went wrong," Wash announced.

Tucker nodded. "We'll be right there, lemme just finish my drink."

Wash nodded and leaned down to kiss Tucker quickly before he left the stuffy mess hall. He was secretly glad to be out of there. Despite the high ceilings, it always felt small to him for some reason.

Carolina's room wasn't too far from the mess hall, so Wash got there quickly. He rapped on the door gently, expecting Donut to come and tell him to go away.

Except Donut didn't come to the door. Wash stood there in confusion for a few seconds, then wondered if they had heard him. He knocked again, a lot louder this time.

When there was no response, Wash frowned. Something was wrong. Instead of waiting for Tucker, like he should've, Wash opened the door as quietly as he could.

The first thing Wash noticed was the blood on the ground. As soon as he saw the red liquid, Wash was on high alert. He walked in carefully, trying not to make too much noise. He hoped that it was just blood from the procedure, though he highly doubted it.

He slowly wandered into the room and found Locus there, with his back to him. Four guards stood at points around the already crowded room, looming above him. Donut was lying on the ground, next to a bleeding and pale Carolina. Doc was pressed up against the wall, trying to get away from Locus.

"Hey!" Wash spoke before he realized what he was doing. Locus turned away from Doc and faced him. He had fresh scratch marks on his face, probably from Carolina. Or Donut. Wash wouldn't put it past the lightish red soldier to claw at Locus.

Locus gave Wash a disturbing smile. "David! I was just about to go find you, good thing you're here."

Wash flinched at the use of his name. How the fuck did Locus know that? From the bad feeling in Wash's gut, this wasn't going to go well. "Don't call me that," he growled, narrowing his eyes.

"I'll call you whatever I want to, David," Locus snapped, then folded his hands, obviously trying to compose himself.

Doc shot Wash a wide-eyed, but curious look. Wash could already practically hear him telling everyone else his real name. He would have to remind himself to pull Doc aside later and threaten him into silence.

Locus took a step closer to Wash. "I brought you an old friend, David."

Confusion flooded through Washington. Locus could literally be talking about anyone. Maybe one of the Freelancers had managed to survive or the Meta-

Wash's thoughts were abruptly cut off when Locus slowly opened a closed fist, showing Wash what he was holding in his hand. It was a small chip, about the size of a penny. It would have no meaning to anyone except for a Freelancer.

Wash looked up at a maliciously grinning Locus with an expression of absolute horror. "No," he whispered hoarsely.

Panic washed over him and Wash took a few steps backward in a pitiful attempt to escape. He bumped into the chest of a very large, very threatening guard who stopped him from leaving.

Locus started toward him and Wash's instincts took over. He punched Locus as hard as he could, not caring about his now aching and stinging knuckles. He could deal with that later, right now he just needed out. To get away from here. To get Tucker's help.

The huge guard grabbed his left wrist, preventing him from throwing anymore particularly hard punches. That didn't stop Wash though, he hit and kicked and clawed at Locus until the mercenary was forced to back off.

"Tucker!" Wash screamed, hoping that he could hear him.

"Hold him down!" A bleeding and pissed off Locus ordered the three remaining and scared looking guards.

They hesitantly reached for Wash, eventually getting a good grip on his arms and completely keeping them down. Wash thrashed in their grip, already on the verge of tears. The four of them quickly overpowered him and pinned him to the blood covered ground, facing the door. Wash willed it to open. It didn't.

Locus approached him, taking his time. "Well, I had no idea you would react this strongly David. This must really hurt."

Wash tried to struggle in the guard's strong hold. "No, please no," he moaned, "You can't do this to me. Not again."

Locus chuckled, then pressed Wash's face into the ground, red staining his cheek. Wash could feel something cold at the back of his neck, then a pinch. Wash couldn't move or breath as he waiting for the familiar tingling sensation of the chip being put in.

Someone busted down the door just as Locus slid the chip in. Tucker looked down at the situation in shock, staring at the scene. Wash could only blink. He couldn't concentrate on anything except for the slight buzzing at the back of his brain. He was barely aware of Tucker shooting Locus and the four guards scrambling away.

"Locus did something to him!" Doc yelled to Tucker.

"Wash freaked out when Locus showed him something, then nearly killed all of them himself trying to get away." Donut came into Wash's limited view, looking frantic.

Tucker looked down at him with a concerned expression. He knelt down, so he was closer to Wash. Wash clenched his jaw as the buzzing sensation intensified.

"Wash? Washington?" Tucker asked, waving a hand in front of his eyes. Wash wasn't able to respond.

"Locus called him David," Donut suggested.

_David. DAVID._

Pain erupted behind Wash's eyes as a voice that wasn't his screamed his name. Wash started screaming himself, unable to bear the agony. He felt himself push off of his stomach and onto his side, even though he hadn't wanted to.

_Where is she? I killed her, it's my fault. Where is she? Texas? ALLISON!?_ Epsilon frantically screamed. He was breaking down inside Washington's head.

Wash curled in on himself, half screaming in pain, half sobbing in fear. He felt everything Epsilon had ever felt and more. Old memories quickly resurfaced, some of them his own, some of them Epsilon's. This was worse than the first time by far.

_Not bad for an old locksmith._

_I heard him scream, I headed towards him, and then suddenly you're standing over me asking me if I'm alright and telling me my brother is dead._

_He was shot in the throat. The medic said even if he survives, he'll probably never talk again._

_You ever notice every time you open your mouth you make things worse?_

Wash shoved his hands over his ears. "Make them stop! Make them stop! The voices- make the voices stop!" He managed to sob out. Tucker was instantly at his side.

"Hey. Hey, you're gonna be okay, you know that right?" Tucker tried to assure him. He grabbed one of Wash's hands away from his head and held it, squeezing gently.

Wash was able to look at him long enough to see he worried expression. Wash weakly nodded, but felt like he was lying. He then squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth together. He tried to not hurt Tucker by accidentally breaking his hand.

"What the fuck is going on?" Wash heard the familiar voice of Carolina. She stumbled over to next to Tucker and sat down heavily next to him.

"Locus did something to his head and he started screaming about locksmiths, dead brothers, and being shot in the throat."

Carolina's breath hitched. "He put Epsilon back inside his head while he's going rampant."

Tucker didn't say anything for a long time. The only sound in the room was Wash's moans and occasional sobs.

Tucker finally spoke. "Is there anything we can do?"

Carolina's silence was enough of an answer for both of them. Wash felt his heart plummet. Unless Epsilon got himself under control, they would both die. And judging from the pained noises inside his head, Epsilon wasn't going to be alright.

Wash figured that he had limited time, so he reached out his other had to Carolina. She took it in hers without question, something she would have never done in the past. Epsilon was wearing out, Wash could feel him unraveling.

_Don't say goodbye. I hate goodbyes._

Wash made it a point to look at Tucker and Carolina. He wasn't The Director, or Church, or Epsilon. He was Washington. He forced himself to say his last word to them. A word that had needed to be said for a long time.

"Goodbye."


End file.
